Episode 31: Bryan Hummel
In Episode 31, Tonya and environmental scientist Bryan Hummel take a deep dive into how we might "team with nature" for the purpose of land restoration, ground water replenishment, flood control and why this all matters in our modern environment.
Bryan is a native Texan biologist who has incorporated nature-based green infrastructure and biomimicry practices into groundwater replenishment projects across private, state, and federal lands. While he was the Aquifer Recharge Specialist for the Air Force, he morphed a 2,800-acre land clearing project into a nature-based beaver biomimicry land regeneration project that converted significant surface runoff into 100% infiltration. This solution recharged local aquifers to help mitigate flooding, replenish more water than Camp Bullis pumped annually, and revitalize springs that helped regenerate riparian health for miles downstream. Bryan still consults with the DOD to help improve their surface water and groundwater resilience.
Accelerating nature-based solutions often improves the health of the ecosystem and converts flooding liabilities into agricultural abundance and resilient groundwater assets. His passion is “teaming with nature” to benefit people, the planet, and profits.DIVE DEEPER!
A quick three-minute trailer on regenerative grazing: Roots So Deep.
Information about the Carbon Cowboys
Farmer winning the Aldo Leopold Conservation Award.
Read this article about Jimmy Emmons, the Assistant NRCS chief, farms in Oklahoma and won this award in 2017. (He is doing great things in very similar ecosystems as Amarillo.)
Contour Bioswales, have been used for thousands of years to convert flooding liabilities into groundwater assets, as well as how the Edwards Aquifer Authority is researching these ancient earthworks to quantify the flood mitigation and groundwater replenishment.
Here's a 54- second video highlighting the 2,000 year old flood mitigation and groundwater recharge infrastructure that was built with simple hand tools, but it is still helping convert flooding liabilities into groundwater assets after 1,800 years of total human neglect.
Replicating earthworks with modern equipment and winning multi-state green Infrastructure awards. This one in Austin won the 2021 EPA green Infrastructure award.
The Edwards Aquifer Authority's Field Research Park (FRP) is a 151-acre property that is located adjacent to Cibolo Creek on the Recharge Zone of the Edwards Aquifer in northeast Bexar County, Texas. This group is getting a full mass balance of the local water resources (how well these earthworks convert flooding liabilities into groundwater assets).
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